Onecare firewall?

[entropism]

OK, I tried doing a search and the info on this forum was pretty outated, so I figured I'd make a new thread:

I have a free copy of MS Onecare sitting around, as it came with a computer I helped set up for a client, and he had me install some freeware we both felt "safer" with. (Avira, SAS, hardware router)

My question is, how's the firewall on onecare these days, and can it be installed WITHOUT the AV portion? I have no intentions of dropping Avira or SAS, I just need a lightweight outbound FW to complement my router.

[vijayind]

OneCare Firewall module is built from the Windows Vista Firewall. Its pretty decent.

If you just want outbound protection, just use Windows Firewall. XP version provides outbound protection only, while Vista provides bi-directional protection. But you can configure it to work as only outbound firewall.

[entropism]

I have NO desire to learn the built in Vista firewall, to be quite honest. It's not exactly user friendly when making new rules, and the predefined rules are basically "allow" or "block".

[vijayind]

-{ Quote: "I have NO desire to learn the built in Vista firewall, to be quite honest. It's not exactly user friendly when making new rules, and the predefined rules are basically "allow" or "block"." }-
OneCare Firewall will also similar. Its also has only Allow/Block ruleset.

If you want a free firewall with more options, I suggest either Comodo Firewall Pro or SoftPerfect Personal Firewall depending on your networking knowledge and requirements.

[entropism]

I tried comodo and it conflicted with a piece of software I use quite often. This is with or without D+, not sure what the heck is going on there. I took a look at Softperfect and it seems a bit complicated to me, my networking knowledge is about average, but frankly I'm not looking to bother. Webroot needs to get off their ass and fix their firewall, it was really nice, outside of a nasty, nasty memory leak.

by the way, thanks for the replies and the help, it's much appreciated. =)

[Someone]

-{ Quote: "OneCare Firewall module is built from the Windows Vista Firewall. Its pretty decent.

If you just want outbound protection, just use Windows Firewall. XP version provides outbound protection only, while Vista provides bi-directional protection. But you can configure it to work as only outbound firewall." }-
Do you mean inbound protection for Windows XP Firewall?

-{ Quote: "I have NO desire to learn the built in Vista firewall, to be quite honest. It's not exactly user friendly when making new rules, and the predefined rules are basically "allow" or "block"." }-
Have you tried Vista Firewall Control (http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/index.html)? I've heard it's quite good.

[akvprasad]

you can try Zone alarm firewall. Its pretty easy to use.

[entropism]

ZA isnt compatible with x64, from what I've seen. And Vista Firewall control is a bit TOO simplistic, IMHO. It's either allow or deny, and I'd like some control over app rules, like uTorrent, for example.

[akvprasad]

ZoneAlarm 5.1 or later versions will support 64bit.
http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/xpInfoCenter/faq.jsp#12x

[entropism]

Unfortunately, as per that link:

Please see the two screenshots below which show the DEP default setting as well as an indicator if your computer system is a 32-bit or 64-bit system. NOTE: ZoneAlarm currently works only with 32-bit Operating Systems!

As per their FAQ, it'll be in a beta release by the end of 08.

[vijayind]

-{ Quote: "Do you mean inbound protection for Windows XP Firewall?
" }-
Yes, sorry my bad
-{ Quote: "
Have you tried Vista Firewall Control (http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/index.html)? I've heard it's quite good." }-
I haven't. If you have please give details of the same so that entropism may comment/evaluate.

[vijayind]

-{ Quote: "ZA isnt compatible with x64, from what I've seen. And Vista Firewall control is a bit TOO simplistic, IMHO. It's either allow or deny, and I'd like some control over app rules, like uTorrent, for example." }-
Please see this thread for x64 compatible firewalls
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=217428

IMO, CA HIPS (a.k.a. Tiny PF) is the most advanced and configurable firewall available for x64 platform. But its not free.
Another highly configurable and free alternative would be SoftPerfect Personal Firewall (its supports Vista x64).

[Someone]

-{ Quote: "I haven't. If you have please give details of the same so that entropism may comment/evaluate." }-
Sorry, I don't have Vista. But I've heard some users on Wilders say it's good.

[DevilFrank]

1.:
The OneCare Firewall will work very silent because the rules are defined with the policy delivered by the updates of OneCare. Only if an unknown application or a changed known application is trying to connect OneCare will pop-up the question.

2.:
OneCare don´t like another security-applications alongside and you will get the message to uninstall this application (Avira, SAS in your case). But you can use this if you deactivate the realtime-protection of this applications.

3.:
OneCare is very complex and I haven´t see a way to install the firewall only. If you use OneCare it will deactivate the Vista-Firewall and the Windows-Defender and take on this functions alongside with the build-in AV.

4.:
OneCare is working with a native 64Bit driver so you will not have a problem with the integration in Vista64. The other benefit you can find here (http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/safety/technologies/onecare/default.mspx).